Jake's Birth - Part 2, Warming Up

When Tyler was born, I really didn't have a lot of true "false" labor - I had a lot of very weak contractions, which of course at the time I THOUGHT were real contractions, which makes me double over with laughter now since having felt true contractions since then.

About 2 weeks before Jake was due, my mom and sister offered to keep Tyler for a Friday evening so Scott and I could get a little pre-baby #2 alone time. Friday night I started to feel a little off and then early Saturday morning started to have mildly uncomfortable contractions. I thought, "This is it!" It was perfect. It was a weekend, so Scott didn't have to worry about work. Mom and Britney already had Tyler, so he wouldn't need to be affected by the whole "seeing mommy screaming in pain" thing. The contractions were still short, but pretty regular at about every 5 minutes. This was exactly how my labor started with Tyler. Scott and I decided to go for a walk. Despite the fact that it was one of the hottest summers in history and already 90 degrees at 8AM - I wanted this baby OUT! So we walked, then walked some more. I had been up since about 4:30 that morning just from the excitement of contractions, so when we got back from the walk, I needed a little rest. I laid down on the couch, slept a little while and then when I woke up....NOTHING. Everything just stopped.

Fast forward about another week and a half to my 39 week appointment. It was the Tuesday morning before my due date and the day before Tyler's 3rd birthday. At that appointment, I saw my favorite midwife - she is a straight talking woman who tells you exactly what is on her mind. She's a riot! Scott went with me to the appointment and here is what she instructed us to do. "Go home and have hard, pounding sex." Her EXACT words. I though Scott's jaw was going to drop onto the floor!! Then, she said the funniest thing I think I have ever heard as we were leaving. "OK, now go slip that baby the mickey." Seriously?!?!

At that appointment, I measured a little under 4 cm, so at that point, if I went to the hospital, I would be admitted. Wednesday was Tyler's birthday, so I stayed home with him and celebrated. My sister also took those days off from work and hung out with me. That night, we went to Tyler's favorite place for dinner - Buffalo Wild Wings. We also celebrated with our good friends - the Story's. I ordered the Mango Habanero boneless wings - almost the hottest sauce they have. It was a wonderful day overall!

Thursday my sister and I both worked from the house. At around 10AM that morning, I started having  contractions. My sister - ever the accountant - opened up Excel and actually tracked and timed my contractions! By about 3:30 or 4:00, they were getting a little more intense and fairly regular at about 5 minutes apart. I called Scott at work at around 4:30, thinking he should come home.

Scott got to the house around 5:00 and we decided it was time to call the midwife on call. At this point, my contractions were pretty strong, but I was still breathing through them and coping pretty well. The midwife told us we should try and stay at home as long as possible. But, in the back of my mind, I was thinking " these things are getting pretty strong and we live 30 minutes from the hospital." But, from Scott's perspective, I was handling them much better than the first time with Tyler, so we should stay at home for a little while.At around 5:45, the intensity started to kick up and bit, and I looked at Scott and said "We have to go." We jumped in the car and were off to the hospital with Tyler in the more than capable hands of my sister.